


The Devil You Don't

by Xazz



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, God AI, HQ explosion, M/M, Smoke Monster, mild body horror, pre game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 15:57:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11740329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xazz/pseuds/Xazz
Summary: Gabriel is in a real shitty situation. It gets made better/worse when he gets a visit from a devil who comes with the promise of righting the wrongs he's made.





	The Devil You Don't

**Author's Note:**

> This idea kinda hit me like lightning and I was like 'oh, I need to write this rn'. So I did. And here it is.

There was a lot of dust in the air. A lot of dust in Gabriel’s lungs. Breathing was difficult. Not because of the dust. No. That honor went to a much bigger problem. Namely the piece of rebar he’d been impaled on, sticking straight through one lung and his ribs. There was a chunk of concrete that was equally problematic and had fallen on and broken his leg. Wasn’t sure which leg. One of them. It wasn’t as bothersome as a metal bar in his chest he was reminded of every time he took any sort of breath.

It was perfect darkness down here under all this destruction. He was lost in the inky blackness. Somewhere along the way his communicator had fallen off him. Who would he even communicate with him?

He must have been down here longer than he thought. He fully hallucinated Jack’s face in the darkness above him. He grimaced. No. Not him. Last person Gabriel wanted to talk to in the world was Jack. Stubborn asshole. Couldn’t see reason. Couldn’t handle the truth. Not that Gabriel had ever told him the truth. Truth about why they’d started disagreeing on everything. It wasn’t about that stupid promotion or him grounding Blackwatch or any of that shit Gabriel hemmed and hawed about just to ruffle his feathers. It was worse than that. More insidious than that.

Gabriel hadn’t trusted him.

Now they were both dead. Good use of distrust that did Gabriel. Good thing he’d ruined their relationship over this. Good thing the man he loved had died hating him and thinking Gabriel hated him.

Useless thoughts. Utterly and completely useless.

Gabriel’s breath disturbed the perfect dust motes that hung suspended in the air above him. What? There was supposed to be no light in this place beneath the concrete and rubble. But there was light. A pair of warm pink eyes in the darkness above his head. “Hello, Gabriel Reyes,” a voice said.

Gabriel knew he wasn’t crazy enough or lost nearly enough blood to be hearing voices like this. At least he didn’t think so. “That’s me,” he grunted, sardonic, asshole, grin wedged firmly in his mouth despite the pain radiating from his entire body.

An omnic the size of a sparrow landed on his chest. It was shaped like a croaker. Old war omnics that looked like manta rays with wings made of sacks that were inflated or deflated with flying nanites to keep it aloft. This one had little feet. It weighed basically nothing. Its body was fat, bulging against the seams of its construction. Gabriel hadn’t seen a croaker in decades but he recognized them anywhere. Where’d this time one come from? Its funny trapezoid head cocked itself at Gabriel, pink eyes illuminating him and the rebar through his chest. “Almost dead and still have enough energy to gloat,” the voice came out of a little speaker on the croaker’s head. It was silky, sultry, dark and melodic and neither masculine or feminine, but had a fake quality to it the way Athena’s voice did.

“Ain’t got much left,” he said.

“Do you want to die, Gabriel Reyes?” the voice asked.

“Not really. Don’t see many other options at this rate.” The croaker hopped forward on his chest a little. Gabriel was too far gone to really feel the pain around the agony of just breathing.

“Then perhaps we can make a deal, Gabriel Reyes. I do not want you to die either.”

“Yeah? Lucky me.”

“If you accept my deal you will live and get to finish your work.”

“Who cares anymore,” Gabriel looked away from the tiny croaker.

“You will get to find out who did this to Overwatch… to Jack Morrison.” Gabriel kept his head turned but his eyes went to the croaker. “Don’t humans love a bit of revenge?”

“What’s in it for you?”

“You,” the voice said. “I will heal your wounds, make you whole, and you will be able to do whatever you want to the UN, to what remains of Overwatch, to Talon but when I call you will come.”

“And do what?”

“What I ask of you.”

“Which will be?”

“Nothing you don’t already, Gabriel Reyes. I will ask you to kill. And you will kill or you will die.” Gabriel didn’t answer the voice. “Or you could stay here and die a pathetic death for a war hero. The heroic Gabriel Reyes dies from his own hubris.” That didn’t sit well with him. “You’ll never know the truth if you die.” Gabriel looked at them. How did they know about that? “Interested, now?”

Gabriel leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling which was a huge slab of concrete at an angle. Another huge slab of concrete had stopped it from crushing Gabriel entirely. Cosmic karma or irony Gabriel wasn’t sure. “Jack’s dead?”

“His body was found two days ago,” the voice in the croaker said. “The news says the service is tomorrow.”

Gabriel closed his eyes. Fuck. He’d fucked up so badly. He hadn’t meant for this to happen. He hadn’t meant to get _Jack_ killed. They’d just had an argument like they always did now. Had. Like they always had. He hadn’t realized then it would blow up to be so huge and horrible. There’d been a scuffle. Gabriel had been sure it would end like they usually did. Someone pinned to the desk or wall and too much tension before a pissed off make out session. Maybe even more than that. Depending on how soon and urgently someone needed one of them. Athena never tried to stop them. She knew it was better to let them work their shit out. One of them must have messed something up on Jack’s computer during the fight because it had ended in an explosion. Probably the generator room and that had reached the armory which had set of the entire place. Not like there wasn’t enough explosives in this place to level a town.

He hadn’t wanted this. Now Jack was gone. Gabriel’s bullshit had made it happen. _His_ inability to trust him and get things done had done it. His need for secrets had done it. Would probably be better to just croak now and try and meet him at the pearly gates to beg forgiveness. Of course, who was Gabriel kidding? No way he’d ever see Saint Peter. No one who did the shit he’d done would get to.

But he could fix this. He could make Jack’s death not mean nothing. He could finish what he’d started. He knew this was a deal with the devil. A devil he didn’t even know. He wasn’t sure if a deal with a devil he knew would be better and he knew plenty.

“Anyone looking for me still?”

“Yes but I doubt they will find you. Even if they did what could they do? Move the slabs and you’ll be crushed. Remove the metal and you will die in minutes after you’ve lost so much blood. That’s if you don’t die of dehydration first. They have nothing for you. I have _everything_.”

Gabriel took a deep breath. Thankfully the pain of his body was numbing him to the pain that Jack was gone. “Okay,” he said. “Okay, I’ll make this deal with you. I know I am not supposed to make deals with Gods, always turns out shit, but this is already shit.”

The voice from the croaker laughed. “Sounds like words of my sister,” it said, referring to Athena.

“Something like that. Now, what do I do?”

“Open your mouth,” the voice said.

Gabriel got the idea and opened his mouth widely. He felt dread creep down his entire body when the little croaker hopped into his mouth. It deflated its wings and his entire body spasmed when it crawled down his throat and got stuck somewhere in his esophagus. Gabriel hardly had time to panic about that when it felt like his insides were suddenly _filled_ with ants. He tried to scream but no air came out. The croaker had stopped all air flow. Then it was consumed by the ants and Gabriel could breathe and he gasped and doing so sent out strange sparks. He felt the crawling ants race up his neck and head. He tried to scream but didn’t have the air in his one intact lung to do so.

That was the last thing he remembered.

He woke up somewhere warm. It was dark out but he had perfect night vision. He could breathe now and he sat up, gasping and running his hands over his body, patting himself down to make sure he was whole, alive. He pulled up his shirt, there was no hole in his chest. Both his legs were whole as well. He was without pain and if anything felt the best he’d felt in years. Like he was fresh off the SEP serum where he felt like he could bench an entire elephant. He got to his feet slowly, testing to make sure his legs were stable.

With a start Gabriel realized he was whole but changed. Part of his body broke off into shadow and hovered in front of his face like a wraith. It was in the shape of his Blackwatch mask. “As promised,” the voice said. “You are alive and free to do as you will. I will call you when the time calls. When I do I expect you to obey.”

Gabriel stared at the black mask made of smoke and nanites. “What did you do to me?”

“I made you better. Enjoy your new body, Gabriel Reyes,” it said seductively. New body? What did that mean? The mask chuckled. “You will figure it out in due time, I am sure.”

The mask started to dissolve into smoke. “Wait. What are you- _who_ are you?” Gabriel asked. He’d never heard or seen a God AI like this. There were no free Gods left. Even Athena was bound and contained to Overwatch.

The mask stopped dissolving. “Why, I am Death,” it said. “And you are _my_ Reaper now.” It fell apart into smoke and Gabriel was left staring at where the smoke mask had been. Before Gabriel had worried about making a deal with the devil. This was even worse.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like the story you should leave a comment. Even if to just say 'I love this story!' I appreciate all of them and let me know you appreciate me too.
> 
> ALSO you should def visit my [writing blog](http://shotgunsandstars.tumblr.com) for previews, whining, and other gay shit.


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